April 2025 Product Update: Improved Readability Scores Feature
We’re excited to announce the completion of our Readability Scores feature overhaul, which we first mentioned in our February update. This update greatly improves how you can check and enhance your text’s readability, making it simpler to adjust your writing for the readers you want to reach.
🎯 Target Reading Level
The most significant addition to our Readability Scores feature is the ability to set a specific target reading level for your content. This powerful functionality allows you to:
- Select your desired audience’s reading level
- Visualize at a glance whether your text meets that target
- See color-coded indicators showing which metrics are within range, close, or outside your target
This makes it simple to determine if your content is appropriately calibrated for your intended readers, whether you’re writing for general audiences, students, or specialized professionals.
📊 Improved Score Visualizations
Each readability metric now features a rich, informative display that includes:
- Your text’s score with clear grade level interpretation
- Visual scales showing where your content falls on the readability spectrum
- The complete formula with your text’s actual values calculated in real-time
- A breakdown of how the score translates to education levels and reading difficulty
🔍 Difficult Word Highlighting
For metrics based on word lists or syllable counts (Dale-Chall, Spache, Gunning Fog, and SMOG), we now highlight challenging words directly in your text. This visual feedback helps you:
- Instantly identify which words might be challenging for readers
- See patterns in your writing that affect readability
- Make targeted improvements to increase comprehension
🧠 Smarter Word Detection Algorithm
We’ve significantly improved our Dale-Chall difficult word detection algorithm. The enhanced version now:
- Analyzes word endings and variations more intelligently
- Properly identifies familiar forms of words (plurals, past tense, etc.)
- Provides more accurate readability assessments
- Reduces false positives that previously inflated difficulty scores
➕ New Spache Readability Formula
We’ve added the Spache Readability Formula to our suite of metrics. This formula is particularly useful for analyzing:
- Elementary-level reading materials
- Content for young readers
- Educational texts for early grade levels
💡 Practical Improvement Tips
Each readability metric now includes customized tips and suggestions to help you improve your scores, including:
- Specific word replacement recommendations
- Sentence structure advice
- Practical techniques to simplify complex content
- Common word replacements to increase readability
🔮 Coming Soon
In May, we’ll be focusing on enhancing our Keyword Densities feature with improved visualization and analysis tools. We’re also planning UI/UX improvements across several views to make your writing experience even more intuitive and efficient.
🌟 Thank You!
We’d like to express our gratitude for your continued support and feedback. These improvements are directly influenced by your suggestions, and we’re committed to making Gorby the most effective and user-friendly text analysis tool available.
Happy writing!
